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Amu
Shonali Bose first wrote the screenplay for her debut film Amu and then rewrote it as a novel. The novel, too, is her first. Adding to the swelling ranks of books in the "East meets West" genre, Amu is, however, atypical. It is a novel with a social consciousness. It has brought into focus the 1984 riots, following Indira Gandhi’s assassination, a part of the Indian history that is conveniently ignored by most. By cleverly placing it against the backdrop of another blot on the nation’s image as a secular state—the 2002 Gujarat riots—the argument against communalism is complete. The episodes regarding the riots have however been treated in such a subtle manner as not to allow the reader to block out unpleasant facts. Though there have been many other books on the 1984 riots, what makes Amu special is its simplicity—one single episode, involving just one family, written with total involvement. Having made the film first must have had its advantages; certainly the descriptions are so evocative of images that one almost feels like a viewer more than a reader. Kaju, a UCLA student, is an adopted daughter of Keya, a legal-aid activist. Though secure in her mother’s love, she yearns for knowledge of her birth mother. After graduating she decides to visit India in search of her identity and roots, a theme fairly common in novels. Kaju, however, has flashes of memories that egg her on in her search—a whisper she can never put words to when she runs, a woman-like apparition that stirs her at a railway line, and a slum she seems to know. In the process she meets Kabir, who initially comes across as "just another upper-class Delhi snob who had a problem with Indian Americans", but soon becomes a friend. Both Kaju and Kabir have something in common, without their realising it. Both have a past involving the 1984 riots and parents desperate to keep this from them. Based on Kaju’s half-memories and facts they discover along the way, they piece together her history. Named Amu at birth, she was among the many victims of the 1984 riots. Adopted by Keya and taken to America to separate her from traumatic memories that had left her dumb for months, she is one of the lucky ones. She has a loving family and a good life. Among those to be pitied are people like Kabir, son of a prominent bureaucrat who sat back and did nothing during the riots and who now has to live with the knowledge of his father’s weakness. Through all this, there is love growing between the two. A delicately handled romance that makes us happy for them both—they deserve every bit of happiness they get. Interspersed with vivid images of modern Delhi, the novel is an intellectual treat. It makes one sit back and think. For once there is no "romanticised India" that we all look back to with "a smile and a tug at the heart". We are given contemporary urban Indian life in all its complexity and limitations. We may make what we will of that. Simplicity in emotion is an appealing formula in films; it seems to work as well in books. Amu is just that, a simple story, well written. |
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